Culinary apparatus



(No Model.)

' L. PEER CULINARY APPARATUS.

No. 601,245. Patented Mar. 29, 1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUISA FEHR, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

CULINARY APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,245, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed September 8, 1896. Serial No. 605,152. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUISA FEHR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati,

' Ohio, have invented new and useful Improve ments in Culinary Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to culinary utensils, its object being to produce a convenient article of sale for family use in putting up fruit and vegetables in cans or jars to be preserved for future consumption.

In preserving fruit, &c., it is necessary, after preparing the raw product and placing in the can or jar, to heat the same to expel the air from the contents and from the can or jar, and this is most conveniently done by steaming in 'a containing kettle. As performed in households this usually consists inplacing the cans or jars separately in a washboiler or other large kettle upon some temporary support, with great inconvenience both in placing and removing them and steaming. A class of supports adapted in shape to the ordinary washboiler-that is, elongated in one direction-have been used for placing the jars in and lifting out of the washboiler, but are open to objections of various kinds. The elongated shape necessitates two handles and the use of both hands in lifting in and out and the exercise of great care to avoid tilting and accidents therefrom. Such supports,

made of wire, are usually so elastic as to increase the danger, besides being liable to de- I. struction by rusting at concealed joints and breakage at a critical moment.

The object of my invention-is to remedy these defects and produce a more useful and convenient article of manufacture for this purpose and one, also, that shall not bedependent on a washboiler or even a two-holed stove, but that is complete in and of itself, adapted to a single-holed stove or a fireplace of any kind and to any size of fruit-jars in ordinary use, and is cheaply made and easily kept in order. 7

To this end my invention consists in the specific details of construction, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed. 7

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of the device complete sectioned through the holder. Figs. 2,

its ready removal.

3, and 4 are plan views of threeinterchangeable guide-frames adapted to contain four, five, and six jars or cans, respectively. Fig. 5 is a perspective view ofv the jar-holder detached, omitting the guide-frame.

Referring now to the drawings, A designates the jar-holder, and E the containing vessel, the latter being preferably cylindrical and adapted to be used with a single-holed stove or fireplace of any kind.

The holder A is a preferably cylindrical and relatively shallow vessel (about half the depth of an ordinary fruit-jar) formed up out of sheet metal, with a perforated bottom and provided with feet a. At one side it is provided with two projecting hooks a a and at the opposite side with a projecting staple a to engage a guide-frame O, presently to be described. The holder is also provided with a pivoted bail-handle 19, adapted when drawn to its elevated position to spring into and automatically engage a notched ear I) of the rim at one side and thus retain the handle rigid with the holder in such position that the holder may be suspended by its bail with a single hand in the prolonged axis of the holder.

The frame 0 is cut or stamped from sheet metal and is provided with a number of apertures c, concentrically arranged, through which the jars are set down in placing them in the holder A, as indicated in Fig. 1. The guide-frame is provided with loops 0 c atone side to engage over the hooks ct a of the holder and "with a latch c to engage over the staple a ofv the holder and thus secure it firmly to the holder while in use, but permit It is intended to furnish as parts of. the utensil a series of two or more of such interchangeable guide-frames with different-sized apertures adapted to the ordinary jars in common use.

In using the device a number of jars D are placed in the holder A, retained in place and out of contact by the frame 0, which embraces each jar separately or a little below its mid-height, and by means of the bail or handle I) is lowered to the bottom of the steaming vessel E, in which it rests upon its feet a, all as shown in Fig. 1. The handle I) may be unlocked by slightly compressing its bow and allowed to fall sidewise, as shown, if required by the height of the containing vessel. A quantity of water being placed in the steaming vessel the lid is placed on it and the whole set on a stove or fireplace, and the steam imparts heat to the jars. hen their contents are brought to the required temperature, the holder and jars are lifted out and the jars removed for sealing, and while this is being done a new set of jars is placed in the steamer, thus greatly facilitating the operation of preserving without danger of scalding the preserver or breaking the jars in lifting in or out.

The holder A being made of sheet metal with perforated bottom, the jars are in a measure protected from the direct action of the hot water and steam by the function of the holder as a screen, in which the holes are only numerous enough to permit proper circulation. Its form and construction also allow its manufacture by few and simple operations of dies out of a single sheet of metal. In like manner the guide-frames are stamped out of single sheets of metal, the apertures being close fits for the contained jars, by which they are segregated out of contact and protected against anylateral motion. These parts are thus made very cheap and eflicient and are far more easily cleaned and dried and kept in order than is possible in articles made of wire, which afford lodgment for dirt and moisture, which is a quality of especial importance in the article in question, which is used but at one period of the year and left idle during the remainder.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- As a new article of manufacture, a cylindrical containing vessel,,and a jar-holder A, adapted to fit and be contained therein, said jar-holder consisting of ashallow cylinder of sheet metal mounted upon legs and havinga perforated bottom, a bail pivoted to said jarholder, a pair of hooks a, secured to the one side of the jar-holder, a staple a, secured to the other and a top guide-plate 0, adapted to be temporarily and rigidly attached to the jar-holder by said hooks and staple with perforations adapted to admit the jars in symmetrical arrangement about the center, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUISA FEIIR.

Witnesses LAURA LoUIsE NEPPER, L. M. IIOSEA. 

